A new day, a new video! La Carmina interviews Andy Six, vocalist of rock band Black Veil Brides, at Studio Seven in Seattle on November 20th. Includes live footage from the performance, stage-diving and songs such as Knives and Pens.

Since Black Veil Brides has a very Visual look, I asked Andy Six about whether he’s familiar with J-rock music and culture. Surprisingly, he “knows nothing” about it, but is eager to learn more. I also interviewed Andy about the band’s message of inclusiveness, and how he may hit you on the head with a water bottle.

Want to know where Andy got his clothes? Or what he thinks of BVB haters? Come see the video above and on YouTube.

Grey plaid Lolita dress with heart pockets: Angelic Pretty, from Closet Child HarajukuHair piece: I wrapped around a silver hearts ribbon, sparkly silver fabric from a dress, and two flower clips from a fabric store. The materials are about $3 total.Black tights: Vivienne Westwood, a gift from my cousinKnee high grey striped socks: Got these years agoMakeup: Dramatic fake lashes and greyish purple eyeshadows gifted from Annabelle Cosmetics. (I’ll show you close-ups later.)

Great minds think alike… Rose and I have almost the exact same glossy black ankle boots. Mine are on the left: Alice and the Pirates, from Closet Child Harajuku.

Are you surprised that Black Veil Brides is not influenced by Japanese Visual Kei rock? Have you seen the band perform? What did you think?

Coming up next: videos and interviews The Birthday Massacre, Dommin and Aural Vampire. Be a doll and please subscribe to my YouTube to see the rest!

BVB is OK, I love the Birthday Massacre. ^.^ I do have to say that BVB do look more Motley Crue/Kiss/LA Guns than V-kei. Since their influneces are those types of bands, I can really see it. It is not a bad thing since I used to be into those bands while growing up^.^

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

The parallel evolution is quite interesting! Birthday Massacre was INCREDIBLE. You must see them live. They’re really nice too!

Tara A. Dettman

yes it is^.^ I saw TBM live with Mindless Self Indulgence a few years ago. Chibi is adorable! I hope to someday see them in Japan..lol.. who knows^.^

Tara A. Dettman

Oh yeah! His comment on the CD being out in Japan and it selling well.. Japanese LOVE 80’s 90’s cock rock …lol. That stuff will always sell well here. It is amusing^.^

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

haha like I said in the interview, Japanese go crazy for the skinny guys with big hair

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

They would be SO popular in Japan!!! They should play Midnight Mess. You going this Sat?

Tara A. Dettman

I wish I was going to Mess Saturday, I won’t be in Tokyo until Dec 24th. So I will def go to MM in December^.^… Hope your back in Japan sooooon ^.~

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

You bet……. :D

RockerPoison

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! BLACK VEIL BRIDES IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BAND!!!! THANK YOU!!!

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

Glad you like it ;)

Desuholic

oh dear god…… <3
Tell Andy to cut his hair, though.

Whorlus

oooooooooh pretty

Kamilabella

wonderful

Thatswhatshesaid

she looks very cold

Xcamillax6

interviewer: “and i am here with…” *waits for﻿ name*

andy: “can we shut that door?”

Thefagcakes

He’s so yumm.. :3﻿

DeathTillDawn

A6<3﻿

Italianoperamask

Andy REALLY can’t sing﻿ live…..

Tlud67

8:25 omg the start of an epic face. (x

Susan

9:42 OMG did he fall in or was he pulled in?

Disoar45

The funny thing is, i got to see them in concert and they were amazing. I wasn’t flipping them off or disrespecting them. I was singing along and taking pictures. But, Andy threw a waterbottle and it hit me in the face(more my left eyes) and i got soaked.

Riff

Sometimes, band members mean to give thirsty audience members water, which I’ve had happen at many shows, and he might have had bad aim in that case rather than maliciously trying to hit you, haha.

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

True, like at Dir en Grey (ahah) there’s some Kyo water throwing. But this was a constant stream of water, and throwing bottles hard. Not fun.

AliWolf

I love bvb x] great interview! I wouldn’t mind leaving there soaking

Breezey

J-ROCK ROCKS! BVB ROCKS!! j-rock introduced me to bvb

Gotikdoll6

damn he is so hot i love the voice of andy six D=

http://misshoneyvanity.wordpress.com/ alice

BVB is amazing :)

Tomomi

look fantastic !!! la carmina. i looooove what you did with your hair…. so pretty. i like a bit of curl on your hair, i really do. xoxo

wow, he seems like a really good vocalist and a cool guy :3 I definatly want to check them out now

Allora

Looked like a good show

Blargville

I wonder what Andy six thinks of Escape the fate(old)

http://wasurenai.tumblr.com Laura

me too, their sound is a bit like old etf!

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

I think he may have said he was influenced by them in a previous interview.

Lonleyemokidd

Andy used to be part of ETF yeah im sure he influenced by them also…..lol XD

Carlos

Aw you have good taste! Your plaid dress reminds me of first dress I ever designed/made!

Zillow Zollo

I first heard of BB when I was in Hot Topic scouring for any last remnant of J-Rock related merchandise. I saw the shirt and instantly asked a clerk, “Hey… is that… a band from.. Japan??” bewildered at the thought that HT would carry an item from a J-Rock band I didn’t know. ((I don’t think HT will beat me to that punch, lol, despite their too-early efforts to support the scene 3-4 years ago)) The clerk said no and said it was a new rock band that had 1 single. I thought, “oh jeez.. 1 single and they get a shirt at Hot Topic yet I can’t find a single scrap of anything form veteran bands who’ve bridged the East-West gap like X JAPAN, Malice Mizer, giru, or even Diru in any of the HT’s I go too… epic fail, HT.” I took it with a hint of optimism that an American band had taken influence from a Japanese vk band.

It’s interesting that I’m not the only one who sees the glaring similarities to Japanese visual kei, but on the other hand I can also clearly see the influence of what I’ll call “American visual kei” – every band he mentioned has been on par with the Japanese VK course since the 80’s, and even some in the late 70’s. Visual Kei is not an exclusively Japanese thing, but you can almost always tell when and where the influence is coming from. Motely, KISS, Cinderella, and even Bowie, Bauhaus, and The Cure.. all had their own visual gimmick going on 30 years ago but sure weren’t from Japan. The interesting part is that while I can clearly see the “80’s glam” influence, I was instantly convinced the band had at least some knowledge of Japanese vk because even to me they were clearly influenced by early anguro or perhaps eroguro VK. I didn’t think much more of it until now and yes I’m a little surprised to see that they’ve never even heard of “visual kei” or know any of the bands. ((okay, part of me isn’t surprised since my initial hope in HT of an American band embracing the Japanese style seemed was tainted with a heavy measure of cynicism)) It’s a little disappointing to be honest. I’m glad that it seems he wants to learn more about it all. Funny, I never thought an American VK band that looked like a Japanese VK would break through to the U.S. pop market faster than an actual Japanese VK band. If that made sense typed out like it did in my head, then I find it quite ironic. And a bit frustrating :- ((“oh, you like this BVB band, who looks and sounds eerily similar to /this whole mountain of bands from Japan who I’ve been trying to get you to listen to for years/?” …. (-_-;)

So thanks for getting to the bottom of what I, and apparently others, was wondering about/hoping for from this strange anomaly of a band. Your interview was fun and you make a great hostess. I love your voice, btw. <3 And I love the video footage. Live shows are such a great experience!

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

I think this was the first time anyone asked him about Jrock and Visual Kei. It was great I was able to find out!

bvb are pretty famous in japan.
they definitely should come to japan.
one of my good friends, japanese, is soooooo into bvb!
thanks for the report!
cant wait to see u again dear :D

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

G-suS I sent you an exciting email….
I’ll see you again very soon!

Alex

So cuuuute ^o^

Mali

Yuck…he should even been on tour with aural vampire. psshh looser…..Black veil is fail <.<

craziiiemo

nobody givs a shit about ur opinion!!!

Eva

i can’t believe he really doesn’t know VK. and Carmina, I loved your facial expressions when he was claiming he’s not aware of japanese fashion :x

Kayaki

I wish I could take a photo with him too…mmm… D:

Minotchka

Really great interview La Carmina. Saturday’s show was amazing. I’ve been listening to BVB for about a year now. I was introduced to them from Purple Sky Magazine -> Tadashi Yoshida -> Cinema Bizarre -> Jessika Irwin (BVB merch girl) -> Black Veil Brides. lol

Taja

you are very beautiful girl *

Eriko

I saw them at HotTopic as well! I really wanted to buy a shirt, but I didn’t even know who that were xD;;. And I really really really want to go to The Birthday Massacre, My mother refuses to drive me! D’x. I want to die~ but I’m glad that you give concert reports, it’s greatly appreciated. <3
and who would be left to throw water at if it weren't for haters~ ^u^

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

There will be video of Birthday Massacre coming up, and photos we took with Rainbow.

Magnales

Hmm, I’m not really impressed by that they’re not influenced by japan rock culture. The clothes are goth, but their hair style looks like it’s influenced by american emo/scene culture. The poofy, spikey hair looks like the hair from Blood On the Dancefloor. I don’t really like to say this because there are always people ready to debate this: I think their music sounds emo. What I mean is that the music sounds like what emo’s and scenekids listen to nowadays.

Magnales

Hmm… A bit weird what I said here. It’s just that I find subcultures very interesting. I can’t really help myself thinking about genres and what subcultures are related to a genre.

I have to say, I hated their performance. I was deathly afraid of getting herpes of the eye when he spit into the crowd. DX

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

hahaha!

craziiiemo

nobody gives a shit about your hating!

Magnales

God, I want his pants. So skinny, so hot <333

Omfitsari

OMG I can see me :O :DDDDD

Wetglasses

Well i guess now we know who threw that water bottle at justin beiber xD

http://twitter.com/Sarah_Loveless Sarah

Love this. And the Birthday Massacre is next? I can’t wait! =)

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

Yesss I loved their performance! Aural Vampire too.

http://twitter.com/BBxWASxHERE Susan Byrnes

Those boots are soooo gorgous!

http://www.lacarmina.com lacarmina

my new favorites! I got them for such a great deal..

Fail

I hate this crap. This is not VK influenced at ALL-it’s pissy, tight-pant wearing, greasy black makeup, emo faggot music, and he should stop tainting VK. They make VK bands everywhere seem like they’re just in a band for their looks. I hope this band is just another fad and falls off the earth soon. Bands like Suicide Ali actually make black clothing and makeup look good, but they also know to change their clothing style (other than tight and black), and their music has true meaning, not whining about your life. Emo is the same crap over and over again-flat (or in this case, spiked) hair, black wardrobe, and more complaining. As for that water thing, there are a few things to do: Get an umbrella, a towel, or throw that bottle back in his face and see if he passes out. Emo faggotry crap.

HeidiR

u r a fucking fagg!!!! leave them alone cuz i think ur a fucking bitch;btw,theyre not emo and i think they rock ass!

Aranel4

You know what, their songs aren’t about “whining about your life”. If you’d take the time to look at the lyrics, you’d know that these songs are about being strong. But here, I’ll simplify it for you.
Knives and Pens: is about Andy’s struggles at one point where he had to choose between harming himself with knives, or taking his frustrations and turning them into something creative. He chose the creative route, obviously.
Sweet Blasphemy: is about how you should be proud of yourself and not give in to anyone’s shit.
Perfect Weapon: is about how you can turn your anger into something productive and creative
Carolyn: is showing you that you’re not alone in life
The Mortician’s Daughter: is about moving on after something hard in your life.

How is this whiny and “emo” if it’s talking about staying strong and continuing life?

And they can dress how they like, as well. They like this style. You can’t fully judge someone on their appearance. If you see someone wearing a varsity football (or other sports…) jacket, do you assume that they’re jerks? Maybe they just love and support their team.
If you see someone with scars on their wrists, does that automatically make them “emo”? Maybe they actually had legitimate problems in their life and just recently got better, and now they’re confident enough to wear short sleeves. Really. You cannot judge a book by it’s cover.

And even if they were gay (referring to “emo faggotry crap”. while faggot actually means “bundle of sticks” or kindling ) what would be the problem? So what. Can’t we just accept them then? And it’s irrelevant anyway because all of them have had girlfriends in the past. But that’s beside the point.
So just get your facts straight before bashing someone you know basically nothing about.

missfacelessemo

well said!! BVB FOREVA

emogirl

i’m sorry but shut the hell up if you don’t like them then don’t listen to them some people actulally like them so if you don’t listen to some thing else if not fuck off!

random

they are not emo, so you don’t know what you are talking about. Bvb’s songs are aboutbeing strong when all odds are against you and fighting for yourself even though youre and outcast. thats not emo. If you are goin to call a band emo listen to the lyrics first.
and they have style although they wear black. Andy makes black look like its color.And he’s probably been through way more than you have. He has a reason to whine about his life and yet he doesnt. look at you! you’re commenting on something you hate! If you hate it, why are you commenting! It’s nothing you should care about! You’re just a stupid hater with no sense. If anything you’re the fag here and your probably jealous that andy is famous and can get girls

ElitistWeeabooCunt

I like how the folks involved in a subculture that consist primarily of young american boys and girls imitating young asian women and girls imitating 80s rock bands and wearing make up and tight pants and spikey hair is throwing around the word “faggot.” Good job, J-Rock fandom… sure are making me proud.

Either way, you use of that epithet is still highly ironic, but I guess maybe that’s what makes you so super ultra KAW-WAH-YEEEEEE!!111A1A1A1S1

Metallifan92

Their dress sense is a cross between got and 80’s hair metal. Their hair is 80’s and emo and then they cover themselves in make-up. I have a bit more respect for the guy knowing he said that LA Guns were an influence which proves he knows about the 80s hair metal scene.

Anamontalvo

I love black veil brides and andy sixx is sow hot

Anamontalvo

I think tha andy is the best boy in the wrold [= (=

Diamond101797

Well he is the best dad in the world

corey

Andy is so cool. Anyone know where I can get some tights like his?

Sweet Willie (Eden)

They are much much better than Visual Kei.

Ray_Kuro

I prefer Visual Kei and J-rock, Black Veil Brides is more Emo.

Ray_Kuro

I forgot to say that I didn’t like Andy in the show I saw, he wasn’t there at all, he wasn’t even singing all the time and I really think that, this band is a fangirl band. Meaning, that most of the people following them are only there because of andy and not for the music.

emogirl

mabe for some but most of the BVB army acutaly listens to then

Eddycrowzero

this is not J-ROCK.. THIS IS BVB… but another VK band from outside JAPAN.. they are not influenced by jrock? i dont think so .. but TRY to listen VERSAILESS., DELUHI,, PIERROT.. GIRUGAMESH..tHE Gazette .. and think it again…

Warukyomono

Pierrot [and all of Kirito’s projects] is old-school V-Kei and is considered to be more J-Rock than V-Kei. I have to agree 100% with Deluhi though, they’ve got a very, very similar sound.

http://twitter.com/Mychemvielbride thisishowidisapear.☠

Andy, you inspre me so much. Please throw water at me? I think I would enjoy that olot!:D

http://www.lacarmina.com/blog lacarmina

hahah! Very S&M

Dangel 01

I LOVE THOSE BOOTS!!!! where did you get them? Any one but especially the ones on the right i love them I’ve been looking for some like that but i cant find any. please can you tell me thanks :)

http://www.lacarmina.com/blog lacarmina

Alice and the Pirates, from Closet Child.

YEAH

its pretty sad that i couldnt tell if they were dudes or chicks…

Ruhi-kun

The first time I listen to this band, i thought that it was and Visual Kei-Influencied American Band, Like AKADO (VK-Influencied Rusian Band) or Visual MooN (VK-Influencied Mongolian) or others VK-Bands around the world. But if you think about it, you will realize that Visual Kei is Influencied by American Glam Rock *its also on wikipedia*. I Think this Band’s Visual Style is influenced by Emo Hairstyle (Looks like JRock Hairstyle), KISS make-up (Glam rock) and Gothic Clothes.
I don’t like that some people likes this band ONLY for Andy ¬-¬ or the fact that in the live-videos and “promotional videos” (Music Video) He is “always in focus by the camera” (dislike jrock vk-bands that all members have the same appearances or importance in the video).
I am not a heater, i think this band is cool (:
bye and sorry for my english n.n

Asturd

I wish these bands would take musical influence from Visual Kei bands too, not just the aesthetics. Aliene Ma’riage is a good band to take some musical influence from as well as other Visual Kei bands.